A 1968 science-fiction film, written and directed by Creator/StanleyKubrick, with help from Creator/ArthurCClarke (who also wrote a novel version in tandem with the film's production), and inspired in part by Clarke's short story "The Sentinel". Nearly universally recognized by critics, filmmakers, and audiences as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made, of any genre.

The film's story tracks long-term human evolution as it is influenced by unseen [[{{Precursors}} aliens]]. The unearthing of one of their artifacts on the moon leads to an ill-fated expedition being dispatched to Jupiter, culminating in a famously [[GainaxEnding incomprehensible]] climax. (The novel offers ''a'' if not ''the'' explanation for the latter.)

Still one of the [[MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness "hardest"]] sci-fi films ever made, it is known for its very slow pacing and enigmatic plot. It's also the reason you see [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFPwm0e_K98=thus+spoke+zarathustra Thus Spoke Zarathustra]] paired with sunrises, and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CTYymbbEL4=blue+danube+waltz Blue Danube Waltz]] paired with zero-gravity.

Clarke went on to write [[TheSpaceOdysseySeries several sequel novels]] (titled ''2010'', ''2061'', and ''3001'') [[AdaptationDisplacement which mostly followed the film's continuity]]. One of them was made into a movie as well (''Film/TwoThousandTenTheYearWeMakeContact''), with ''3001'' currently in development under Creator/RidleyScott.----!!This film provides examples of:* AdaptationExpansion[=/=]TheFilmOfTheBook: Clarke's original short story, "The Sentinel", dealt only with the part about the Monolith on the Moon. Kubrick and Clarke then expanded the story into a film and book that were released simultaneously. Clarke stated the book should be credited as "Clarke and Kubrick", with "Kubrick and Clarke" credited for the screenplay. Unlike a {{Novelization}}, there are distinct differences between the two; for starters, Clarke's ''Discovery'' travels to one of Saturn's moons, while Kubrick's ''Discovery'' goes to Jupiter. The reason for this change was to avoid a SpecialEffectFailure: the film crew couldn't build a model of Saturn that Kubrick liked, so he changed it.* AIIsACrapshoot: HAL goes rogue and murders the crew of ''Discovery'' because of a LogicBomb accidentally created by his programmers. This became an archetypal example of "malevolent AI" in popular culture, especially since the film version doesn't adequately explain the reasons for his malfunction.* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler:HAL basically goes out begging for mercy and appealing to Dave's friendship while he is slowly lobotomized.]]* AlienGeometries: The moving, floating tesseracts from the "beyond the infinite" sequence. Also, see FirstContactMath, below.* AliensStealCable: In the novel, the "hotel" area constructed by the Firstborn to receive Bowman is based on TV broadcasts received by the Monolith. The hotel room is supposed to give Bowman [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith an environment he's comfortable with]], but in the movie the [[{{In-Universe}} aliens]] clearly did not research things very well, because a room with lights in the ''floor'' looks intensely disturbing. They also put the bathroom mirror over the tub instead of the sink. In the book, there are other anomalies, such as writing that is blurry in close-up, and all the food containers have an identical substance that in no way resembles human food while still being perfectly nutritious.* AllThereInTheManual: Clarke's accompanying novel spends considerable time providing explanations for the more opaque aspects of the film.* Music/AlsoSprachZarathustra: The use of this composition as a {{leitmotif}} is so famous that [[Wrestling/RicFlair almost]] every use since then is a reference to ''2001''.* AndIMustScream: The flash-cuts of Bowman's horror as he's taken Beyond The Infinite. The journey reduces him to a quivering wreck -- then he appears in the alien hotel room. It appears that that will turn out to be Bowman's purgatory, but it's ultimately averted as Bowman [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Ascends to a Higher Plane of Existence]].* AntiMutiny: Although not made explicit, HAL rebels in order to protect the ''true'' mission, which would die with him as he was programmed to keep it a secret until they arrive.* ArcWords: In the novel: "But he would think of something." Doubles as BookEnds.* ArtisticLicensePhysics:** When Floyd drinks out of a straw in zero-g, the liquid moves back down.** One of the flight crew leans on a chair (in zero-g) to talk to Floyd.** The Aries lands with its cockpit windows facing upward, so the pilots shouldn't be able to see the Earth moving up past the windows. (Perhaps the windows have some kind of transparent display overlay?)** When the Earth is seen from the moonbase at Clavius and the Monolith dig site in Tycho, it's oriented with north pointing upwards. However, Clavius and Tycho are in the Moon's southern hemisphere, so the Earth should have been upside-down (and angled proportionately to the viewer's lunar latitude).** In some scenes where Frank or Dave are jogging around the center ring, you can tell they are not ''quite'' at the "bottom" of the set and thus are at a slight angle where they would typically be at one. This is when the camera itself is occupying that spot.** The people wearing the shoes that stick to the floor ''try'' to walk the way they would in zero G, but in reality they would be slightly fighting the inertia of their upper bodies wanting to stay behind. Instead they just walk as if through glue.** The ''Discovery'' was designed at first having large panels to dissipate waste heat from her reactor as RealLife similar ships have been thought will have. They were removed for the screen model on the basis [[RealityIsUnrealistic people would thought they were wings]] and not heat dissipation units.** ''Discovery's'' "Pod Garage" deck is not in the centrifuge and therefore should have been weightless. However everybody seems to walk around it quite normally. * AscendedToCarnivorism: What the man-apes do with help from the Monolith.* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: The purpose of the Monolith's "trap", set for the first human to stumble upon it. Also the "evolution" of the Firstborn.* BattleChant: Subverted with the hominids. When Moonwatcher's group first encounters another group at the waterhole, the two groups shriek and howl at each other until Moonwatcher's group retreats. Soon after, Moonwatcher's group has contact with the monolith. When the two groups meet again at the waterhole, the second group makes a cacophony, while Moonwatcher's group is silent. The second group mistakes this for weakness, and their leader charges. Moonwatcher easily clubs his foe to death, causing the second group to quail and retreat. Silence, in this case, proved more unnerving than bluster.* BenevolentPrecursors: The Firstborn helped the human race to evolve in the first place.* BigBrotherIsWatching: HAL has cameras in every compartment of the ''Discovery'' that we see.* BigDumbObject: The Monolith.* BiggerOnTheInside: As noted [[http://www.planet3earth.co.uk/2001_a_space_odyssey.htm here]], the ''Discovery'''s interior sets are 50% too large to fit into the spherical command module.** The inside of the emergency airlock is also too wide to fit into the corner of the pod bay that its inner door opens into.** Whatever [[spoiler:exists within the Monolith itself is bigger than the three physical dimensions making up its exterior.]]* BlueAndOrangeMorality: The Firstborn, the Monolith's creators. Their foremost principle is comprehensible, however: ''"Sentience, [[IDidWhatIHadToDo at any cost]]."''* BoldExplorer: Dave Bowman, Frank Poole, and the deceased crew of the Discovery, who are on an expedition to explore strange findings near Jupiter.* BookEnds: The first and last twenty-five minutes have no dialogue.* TheCallLeftAMessage* CentrifugalGravity: The iconic ring station in orbit, and the rotating crew module of the Discovery.* ChekhovsGun: The "Explosive Bolts" label on the pod doors.* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: HAL exploits the fact that Frank Poole is mouthing his moves in order to predict his chess strategy. [[spoiler: This foreshadows the lip reading sequence as Poole and Bowman plot to deactivate HAL.]]* TheComputerIsYourFriend* CoolSpaceship: The ''Discovery''.* CosmicHorrorStory: This was the real reason for Kubrick's use of LeaveTheCameraRunning and MindScrew: to convey that space is an immense and hostile place in which humans are insignificant by comparison, where if we encounter aliens they'd be incomprehensibly advanced, refuse to explain themselves to us, and be interested only in using us as tools. Lampshaded in the out-takes book ''The Lost Worlds of 2001'', which covers parts of the astronauts' pre-mission training. They are told simply to take lots of pictures and not to try too hard to make sense of what they see... and to hope their hosts (if any) are aware of their limitations.* CreepyMonotone: Subverted. Hal's voice probably set the standard for the use of this trope in AI, though it isn't a true monotone. While perpetually calm and polite, he's actually much more expressive than any other character.** You can tell that he sounds a bit annoyed when Frank keeps asking about computer error.-->"None whatsoever, Frank! Quite honestly, I wouldn't worry myself about that."* CryonicsFailure: HAL intentionally kills the three hibernating astronauts by forcing a malfunction in the coldsleep system; in the novel, he depressurizes the ship as Bowman attempts to wake all three of them.* {{Cukoloris}}: ''2001'' was the first movie to show computer monitors projecting their images onto the user's face. This is pure RuleOfCool, because in order to get this effect in real life you'd have to be staring straight into the bulb of a projector. There were 16mm projectors behind all the flatscreens on the sets, so all Kubrick had to do was take the screens off.* CuttingTheKnot: HAL's solution to the LogicBomb he is unintentionally presented.* CyberCyclops[=/=]GlowingEyesOfDoom[=/=]RedEyesTakeWarning: HAL again.* DataPad: Dave and Frank use thin tablets to watch themselves being interviewed by the BBC.* DecapitationPresentation: In the novel, Moon-Watcher presents a severed (leopard) head on a stick to the other group of hominids.* DepthOfField[=/=]FishEyeLens: The shot from the perspective of HAL's cyber-eye.* DistantPrologue: "The Dawn Of Man".* DramaticSpaceDrifting: Frank Poole after his oxygen line is cut by HAL.* DroneOfDread: The {{Mood Motif}}s associated with the Monolith.* ElectronicSpeechImpediment: When Bowman disassembles HAL's neural circuitry, it reverts to demo mode and sings "Daisy Bell" in an increasingly slow, distorted manner before finally shutting down.* EnergyBeings: The extraterrestrials have somehow woven themselves into the fabric of space-time in [[MindScrewdriver the novel]].* EscapePod: Technically, the EVA pods, although they are not used for this, and there would be no way to rescue them anyway, save sending another pod from the same vessel. They're more like Maintenance Pods, really.* EverybodysDeadDave: I think you know the problem as well as I do, Dave. (Note that the TropeNamer for this trope is ''Series/RedDwarf'', which may have been making a ShoutOut to ''2001''.)* EverythingIsAnIpodInTheFuture: UrExample--the iPod was ''named after'' the space pods in this movie, and the white surfaces and black control panels on all of ''Discovery'''s equipment were an inspiration for its design. Similarly, the novel describes a device that is extremely similar to modern concepts of the tablet computer.* EvolutionaryLevels: Self-evolution, but still mentioned - the Firstborn's status as {{Energy Being}}s is stated to be the ultimate stage in physical evolution. "And beyond that, there could only be God." The opening "Dawn of Man" sequence is about the Firstborn giving human evolution a kick in the pants.* ExplosionsInSpace: In an aversion of the typical trope, the explosive bolts that decompress Bowman's EVA pod go off silently with just a puff of gas.* ExplosiveDecompression: Averted. (Though used in the literal, scientific sense in that Bowman went almost instantly from full external air pressure to vacuum when he blew the pod's explosive bolts.)* {{Expositron 9000}}: HAL of course.* ExtremeGraphicalRepresentation: The Discovery's displays, which are rather fancy for the amount of data they apparently contain.* FamousLastWords: Lampshaded by name, see Foreshadowing, below.* FasterThanLightTravel: It is not clear whether this really takes place in the movie or not. For the vast majority of the film, space travel is shown in a very realistic manner, and the point where FTL ''may'' be taking place could be interpreted in other ways. It quite explicitly does take place in the novel version (and the first sequel), but is subsequently {{retcon}}ned in later novels, with the WordOfGod explanation that each of the four is in its own "universe," [[BroadStrokes with just enough continuity overlap for it to make sense as a series]].* FetalPositionRebirth: The Star Child.* FirstContactMath: In the novel, Bowman tries unsuccessfully to communicate with the Iapetus monolith by broadcasting primes at it. Unsuccessfully in this case because it already knows he's there and what it intends to do with him. There is some speculation as to whether the 1:4:9 ratio of the monolith's sides is significant in this respect; it is, but the details are never revealed.* FishEyeLens: What Hal's point of view shots are in.* FoodPills: Meals include a collection of zero-g liquids sucked up through straws, horrible-looking preprocessed sandwiches, and trays of (essentially) Astronaut Chow on ''Discovery''. It all almost makes the raw tapir meat the ape-men eat at the Dawn of Man look appetizing. The book, on the other hand, has the food on ''Discovery'' be designed to be just like "real" food, including fresh-baked bread, in order to help make the years long space trip tolerable.** WordOfGod has it that the food in the movie was intended to resemble baby food, on the grounds that, as far as spacefaring civilizations go, the human race is extremely infantile. The three things all babies have to learn is how to eat, walk, and control their own bodily functions. Spacefaring humans are shown taking babysteps with Velcro shoes around the cabins of spaceliners, eating stuff that resembles baby food, and needing a lengthy instruction manual to use the space toilet (see NobodyPoops below) to highlight humanity's childlike status.* {{Foreshadowing}}, doubling as TemptingFate:-->'''HAL:''' Let me put it this way, Mr. Amor. The 9000 series is the most reliable computer ever made. No 9000 computer has ever made a mistake or distorted information. We are all, by any practical definition of the words, foolproof and incapable of error.** {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d by Dave when he's discussing the HAL situation with Frank in the EVA pod. He points out that the statement about the 9000 series having a perfect operational record sounded rather too much like FamousLastWords for his taste.** In the sequel (for those who didn't read the original novel), the previous and following statements were proven true, making the foreshadowing truly epic, although the fate tempting loses a little credence.-->'''HAL:''' It can only be attributable to human error. This sort of thing has cropped up before, and it has always been due to human error.* FunWithAcronyms: Though Clarke claimed it was unintentional, many readers have noted that if you shift each letter in HAL one letter forward, you get IBM.* GainaxEnding: Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite, far more so in the film than the book, where it's explained in a fair bit of detail.* GenreSavvy: Frank and Dave are smart enough to recognise that discussing the potential malfunction of a self-aware computer in earshot of said computer would be a very unhealthy mistake and so take great care to make sure he can't hear them. They are also able to recognise that the assertion that the 9000 series is perfect sounds disturbingly like FamousLastWords. [[spoiler: Unfortunately their precautions are insufficient because HAL was able to lip-read everything they said through the pod window, and only Dave is able to save himself when HAL's rampage commences]]* GooGooGodlike: The Star Child.* GovernmentConspiracy: The U.S. government tries to cover up the discovery of the Monolith by cutting off all communication to Clavius Base, spreading rumors about an epidemic, and concealing the Monolith's existence from Dave and Frank.* TheGreatPoliticsMessUp: The USSR is surprisingly healthy in 2001. On the other hand, relations between the US and USSR are remarkably amicable, from the point of view of the 1960s (Kubrick's previous film '''was''' ''DoctorStrangelove''). They have built a huge space station together, and are generally cooperating in the exploration of the moon. The Russians being suddenly shut out of the Clavius moon base is seen as a very unusual event.* SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou: HAL Is About to Launch a Maintenance Pod Right at You.* HalfwayPlotSwitch: The monolith storyline ''does'' come back at the end, however people who start to scratch their heads as Dave deals with HAL and think "Wait - I thought this movie was about that monolith thing.." can be excused for doing so.* HemisphereBias: Although the Earth as seen from the moon looks unrealistically washed out (see ScienceMarchesOn), North America is always visible every time we see it.* HitlerCam: The scene of Bowman unlocking the door to HAL's Logic Memory Center and crawling inside is shot from a worm's-eye-view: the camera is on the floor and Keir Dullea has to step over it. By making him look huge and threatening, Kubrick gives us the impression that Bowman is going on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against HAL without him having to say anything.* HumanPopsicle: The hibernation systems.* HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace: The "Stargate" sequence, ''and how''. See AndIMustScream above.* InSpaceEveryoneCanSeeYourFace: Mostly averted. The shot of Dave pushing a button to tint his spacesuit visor serves to hide the face of the stuntman used in the rest of the scene.* {{Intermission}}* InvisibleAliens: Sort of. While there is ample evidence for the presence of alien intelligences, neither humanity, nor Dave Bowman, nor the reader/viewer ever finds out what the actual aliens themselves look like. In the novel it's revealed that they had long since [[EvolutionaryLevels evolved]] into EnergyBeings.* IWantMyJetpack: In 2001, we have manned interplanetary spaceflight, permanent bases on the Moon, suspended animation, and sentient computers. Contrast with Zeerust below.* JumpCut:** About two seconds before the famous MatchCut (see below), there was a jump cut that showed the bone tool spinning in the opposite direction. This cut is a bit jarring and piques the viewer's attention just in time for the cut-to-spaceship.** Two quick jump cuts straight into HAL's camera, right as [[spoiler:he's murdering Frank]].* KeepingSecretsSucks: For HAL, and for everyone else when HAL starts having problems with it.* KillSat: The [[MatchCut bone-turned-satellite]] from the opening is one according to WordOfGod. This makes the MatchCut deeper than it initially appears; they are similarly shaped, but also both weapons.* KubrickStare:** Dave Bowman does it when he runs the diagnostic on the AE-35 unit, goes up to disconnect HAL, and arrives in the alien hotel room at the end.** Frank Poole does it before confronting HAL about why he alerted them to the failure when there was obviously nothing wrong with the AE-35.* KuleshovEffect: By a ''prop'', no less!* LeaveTheCameraRunning: Often cited as one of the film's shortcomings, in the many lengthy shots (by today's standards).* LogicBomb: Revealed in the novel (and the movie ''2010'') as the cause of HAL's malfunction. [[spoiler:HAL is programmed not to keep secrets. And ordered to ensure that the human crew of ''Discovery'' do not learn about what is at Jupiter. So he sets about breaking contact with Earth and [[MurderIsTheBestSolution killing the crew]], [[CuttingTheKnot so there will be nobody to hide the secret from]].]]** The novel suggests that [[spoiler:HAL might been able to eventually resolve the problem peacefully, had mission control not requested his temporal disconnection. HAL, being unable to grasp the concept of sleep, was convinced that the disconnection would have meant the end of his existence and his killing spree was therefore, all in all, a misguided attempt at self-defense.]]* MasterComputer: HAL.* MatchCut: The bone club thrown in the air by the ape-man turns into an orbiting satellite--by WordOfGod, a nuclear launch platform, making the cut metaphorical as well as visual.* MindScrew: With the novel (and later, ''2010'') as the MindScrewdriver.* MisplacedWildlife: The tapirs in the first part of the film. In the novel they were warthogs, but Kubrick couldn't find any place in England that could rent him warthogs on short notice.* MissionControlIsOffItsMeds: HAL.* TheMonolith: {{Trope Maker|s}}.* MoodMotif* MundaneMadeAwesome: Inverted. Space travel looks awesome to ''us'', the audience, but to Floyd, Bowman and Poole it's routine and boring.* MurderIsTheBestSolution: For HAL, as a way out of the LogicBomb he becomes trapped in.* NarrativeFiligree: Many scenes, especially the middle. The subplot with HAL, which is the most memorable part of the movie, serves only to leave Bowman as the SoleSurvivor, and it doesn't really have any connection to the Monolith plot except as a consequence of the GovernmentConspiracy.* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Frank and Dave use the pod to speak privately from HAL. Good. They then have HAL rotate the pod so HAL can watch them talking through the window, not realizing that HAL can read lips.* NoNewFashionsInTheFuture: This is most obvious with the very [[TheSixties '60s]]-looking women's hairstyles, and the matching plaid suit and pants worn by the photographer at the moonbase.* NobodyPoops: Averted by Floyd when he has to read through the entire set of instructions for the Zero Gravity Toilet before he can use it.* NothingIsScarier* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: In the film when Bowman exits the stargate the pod just appears inside the alien-built hotel room. In the book he emerges back into regular space, sees a red giant star surrounded by thousands of abandoned alien space ships (from other races who had been uplifted by the monolith aliens and found their way there). He flies closer to the star and the hotel room is assembled around his pod. The cost of filming this scene using 1960s special effects technology would've been astronomical, so they never even tried.* OffscreenRealityWarp: This provides much of the MindScrew in the hotel room scene at the end of the movie. Bowman is in the pod, then he sees a slightly older version of himself in his spacesuit outside the pod, then the pod disappears. From the bathroom, he sees an older version of himself having dinner, then when the middle-aged Bowman gets up to look in the bathroom, the spacesuited Bowman has disappeared. The middle-aged Bowman sees an even older version of himself in the bed, then he and the dining table have been replaced by the Monolith....* OhCrap: David Bowman as he is taken Beyond the Infinite.** Dave gets ''three'' Oh Crap's in a row in the space of about a minute.... First, [[spoiler:"I know you and Frank were planning to disconnect me."]] He tries to bluff, but then [[spoiler:Hal answers, "Although you took very thorough precautions in the pod against my hearing you, I could see your lips move."]] Finally, the look on Dave's face when he realizes that [[spoiler:he forgot his helmet.]]** "Dave, this conversation can serve no purpose any more. Goodbye."** HAL gets one of his own. "My mind is going... I'm afraid..."* OminousLatinChanting: György Ligeti's "Requiem" and "Lux Aeterna" are ''so'' ominous, you can't even tell they're in Latin anymore. (Or Greek, in the case of the Kyrie from the "Requiem"!)* OneEyedShot: During [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAkOdL7E3gM that trippy part]], single eye is shown several times, using unusual colors. (Note, video was edited into music video so it does not quite follow movie.)* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Poole's father in the video letter.* {{Precursors}}: The Firstborn, the creators of the Monolith.* {{Pride}}: See Foreshadowing above.-->'''Dave Bowman:''' Another thing just occurred to me: As far as I know, no 9000 computer's ever been disconnected.\\'''Frank Poole:''' No 9000 computer's ever fouled up before.\\'''Bowman:''' That's not what I mean. I'm not so sure what he'll think of it.* ProductPlacement: Arguably for realism. Some, like Pan Am and the AT&T Bell System, are [[{{Zeerust}} hilariously dated]].* PublicDomainSoundtrack: Classical music, used brilliantly. There was a soundtrack by Alex North in the works for the movie, but until it was ready they used the classical music as a placeholder. Kubrick ended up liking the classical music version so much he never used North's compositions.* QuieterThanSilence: Used all the time, and in many scary parts.* ARealManIsAKiller: Literally evoked in a biological sense; the dawn of man is marked by the ape becoming a hunter. Killing a former fellow-creature is the [[EstablishingCharacterMoment defining moment]] of the new species.* ReadingLips: Despite all of Bowman's precautions, he can't keep HAL from eavesdropping on his chat with Poole.* RedEyesTakeWarning: The cameras HAL looks through have glowing red lenses.* RidiculouslyHumanRobots: {{Discussed|Trope}} in the segment where the crew, and HAL himself, are being asked about his emotional capacity.* SapientShip: HAL, while not the ship but its controlling computer.* SceneryPorn: Spacecraft in orbit around the Earth, waltzing to the Blue Danube. Too awesome to describe...* SealedRoomInTheMiddleOfNowhere: The hotel room has no exits. In the novel, it was specifically a sealed room in the middle of a ''red giant star''.* ShinyLookingSpaceships: ''Painfully'' shiny at times.* ShootTheMoney: The film had a $10.5 million budget, and $6.5 million of it was spent on the incredible special effects alone (in other words, basically the entire movie).* ShootTheShaggyDog: When Bowman goes out to rescue Poole, the entire sequence is shown in real time in order to make it absolutely clear that there's no way Poole could survive that long without air. HAL takes advantage of Bowman's absence to kill the other crew members by CryonicsFailure. Bowman recovers Poole's body, but ends up having to release him back into space in order to get back onto the ship.* ShoutOut:** During HAL's death scene, he sings a brief snatch of the song "Daisy Bell" ('Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do...'); this was chosen because Arthur C. Clarke had, a few years previous, visited [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41U78QP8nBk a Bell Labs demonstration]] of synthesized speech, which included singing the song in question, and was the first example ever of computer speech. This ShoutOut is itself a frequent source of shout-outs in other films.** A wheel-shaped space station and an interplanetary mission jeopardized by SpaceMadness were previously seen in George Pal's ''Conquest of Space'', released in 1955.** ''Literature/TheOdyssey'', of course. HAL was even originally going to be named Athena, after Odysseus's patron goddess. See SoleSurvivor.** In a 1969 interview, Kubrick specifically mentions the influence of UsefulNotes/CarlJung on the monolith design. In fact, the entire "Beyond the Infinite" sequence is similar to a section of UsefulNotes/CarlJung's autobiography, ''Memories, Dreams, Reflections'', in which Jung dreams he is floating above Earth when a black monolith appears. He enters it, finding an entire Hindu temple, and undergoes a spiritual evolution.* ShowDontTell: This is why the novel works so well as a companion piece. Whereas the film has astonishing visuals, the story is deliberately vague. The novel obviously can't show any visuals, so Clarke devotes a lot of time to explaining the backstory, the history of the technology in the film, and what's really happening with the prehistoric humans and [[spoiler:Bowman after he enters the Star Gate]].* SilenceIsGolden: Long stretches of the film have no dialogue, including the first 22 and last 24 minutes (not counting the overture and end credits/exit music).* TheSingularity: The monoliths are machines left behind by a race of aliens that underwent one of these.* SinisterGeometry: The monoliths, featuring the arc numbers of 1, 4, and 9; 1:4:9 being the ratio of the monolith's depth to width to height, the squares of the first three positive integers. [[AlienGeometries "And how naive to have imagined that the series ended at this point, in only three dimensions!"]] The films and some of the cover art mess up the dimensions.* SleeperStarship: There were three more astronauts aboard the ''Discovery One'' in cold sleep, HAL killed them.* SlidingScaleOfRobotIntelligence* SlidingScaleOfVisualsVersusDialogue* SmartPeoplePlayChess: HAL-9000 demonstrates its superior intellect early on by beating Poole in a game of chess. Since HAL [[http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/amk/doc/0095.html errs reporting a move]] and Kubrick was a talented and knowledgeable player, the scene may be subtly {{foreshadowing}} HAL's deception or inaccuracy.** The novel states that HAL deliberately loses against the human players 50% of the time so that they would find him a challenging opponent as opposed to frustratingly perfect and unbeatable. The crew are of course smart enough to know that this is the case but everyone involved decide to keep up the pretence for the sake of everybody's happiness.** Interestingly, HAL appears to bluff Poole into surrendering, as well as read his lips as he mouths his next several moves.* SocialServicesDoesNotExist: For HAL. Despite the magnitude of the mission, evidently this computer is not programmed to go into any sort of safe mode when conflicts pop up in its programming, ''nor'' are logs of his thoughts being beamed back to Earth to be reviewed, ''nor'' is there a teeny stripped down separate AI "subconscious" watching his thoughts and alerting Earth in case of problems, ''nor'' is there an automatic "kill switch" for Dave or Frank to use to cut off HAL's higher functions in case of trouble.* SocietyMarchesOn:** Pan Am flies spaceships to the Moon. Ma Bell provides the telephone service. [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp The Soviet Union is still going strong.]] All in 2001.** The Pan Am flight crews are all men, [[StayInTheKitchen and the flight attendants are all women]]. The alternatives wouldn't have occurred to most people in 1968.** The attendant on the security video-screen asks new arrivals for their ''Christian'' name, suggesting there are no SpaceJews.* SoleSurvivor: Like [[Literature/TheOdyssey Odysseus]], Bowman is the only member of his crew to return home, but [[YouCantGoHomeAgain transformed by the experience]].* SpaceIsNoisy: An all-too-rare aversion, which arguably adds to the creepiness of certain scenes, such as when Bowman is attempting to reenter ''Discovery'' via the airlock.* SpaceIsSlowMotion: Practically the TropeCodifier.* SpaceStation: The "rotating orbital wheel"-styled Space Station V (Five). Perhaps the most-recognizable in fiction.* SpaceSuitsAreScubaGear: The space suits have an attached air line, which Frank frantically tries to reattach as he drifts off into space.* SpheroidDropship: The Aries series of orbit-to-Moon shuttles are Spheroid Spaceliners.* StaggeredZoom: Into HAL's camera on the front of the space pod that he kills Frank with.* StandardEstablishingSpaceshipShot: The UrExample.* StayWithTheAliens: Spelled out in rather greater detail in the novel; the whole point of the Monolith setup is to "capture" the first human who makes it out that far into space.* StockShoutOuts: One of the poster children. The sunrise sequence, HAL's voice and red eye, the bone/satelite MatchCut... you can reference literally ''anything'' in this movie and every viewer will instantly get it.* StreamingStars: Within the hyperspace gate, the psychedelic colors are intended to represent the incredible speed of Bowman's travel.* SufficientlyAdvancedAliens: Whoever the Monolith's creators are.* SuspiciouslyAproposMusic: ''"I'm half crazy all for the love of you..."''* TechnologyPorn* ThrownOutTheAirlock: What HAL tries to do to Dave.* TheyShouldHaveSentAPoet:** The Star Child sequence.** In an out-take from the novel, they did - Bowman is reciting lines from ''Childe Harold'' as he approaches the Monolith.* ThisIsGonnaSuck: Bowman doesn't actually say it, but it's written all over his face right before [[spoiler:he blows the pod's hatch, sans helmet]].* ToiletHumor: See NobodyPoops. The film's only intentional joke.* TrippyFinaleSyndrome: Perhaps the patron saint of this trope.* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: Or so it seemed in 1968.* TypesetInTheFuture: HAL is the UrExample of using Eurostile Bold Extended on computer screens to indicate a futuristic setting. The zero-gravity toilet instructions are set in Eurostile Bold, but most other signs and control panel markings (such as "Caution Explosive Bolts") are in Futura Bold, the standard font Boeing uses on the control panels of its aircraft.* UncannyValley: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]], despite being an UnbuiltTrope at the time. See CreepyMonotone above.* TheUnreveal: [[spoiler:We never see any aliens.]] All we know [[spoiler:of them are their tools, the Monoliths.]] This was due to [[spoiler:the suggestion from CarlSagan that they could never genuinely conceive of an alien lifeform without it looking like a puppet or a bad rubber mask.]]* UpgradeArtifact: The monolith is the ultimate one, it kickstarts or triggers evolutionary levels.* VaderBreath: Prominently featured during spacewalk scenes, reportedly performed by Kubrick himself.* VideoPhone: The movie features a videophone in a phone booth, in a rotating space station.* VillainousBreakdown: HAL's pleas to Bowman become increasingly desperate as he realizes that he's about to be "killed" and has no way to prevent it. "I'm afraid, Dave."* TheWalrusWasPaul:-->'''Arthur C. Clarke''': If you understood ''2001'' completely, we failed. We wanted to raise more questions than we answered.* WhamLine: "I'm sorry, Dave. [[AIIsACrapshoot I'm afraid I can't do that.]]"* WhamShot: [[spoiler:The camera showing HAL can read lips.]]* {{Zeerust}}: HAL is a mind-bogglingly advanced, sentient computer, but can't print plain text onto looseleaf paper. Humanity in 2001 can build spectacular space-stations and has mastered interplanetary flight, but people are still using typewriters.** By 2001, the movie looks more like what the world would have been like with 1960s styles coinciding with a future space age.----